A Long Long Way

Readers meet Willie Dunne when he is still a gifted boy growing up in Dublin and follow him--through a diary and letters home--into battle during World War II where he must shoulder the unending internal damages of the war along with the hatred of his own countrymen for fighting for Britain.

With acclaimed works like "The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty," Irish author Sebastian Barry has earned a reputation as a amaster storytellera ("The Wall Street Journal"). In "A Long Long Way" he has created an unforgettable portrait of the horrors of war through the story of Willie Dunne, a young man who leaves his native Dublin in 1914 to join the Allies on the Western Front. Caught between the catastrophic violence he encounters there and the growing political tension at home over Irish independence, Willie finds himself confronting unbearable choices regarding family, patriotism, and the devotion he feels toward his regiment. A deeply affecting portrayal of personal struggle and the consequences of war, this is one of Barryas most powerful accomplishments.
aBarry succeeds admirably in creating complex individuals who find themselves trapped in a brutal reality... Beautiful and soul-wrenching.a a"Los Angeles Times"
aThe story grips, shocks and saddens; but most importantly refuses to be forgotten.a a"The Times" (London)